To think about emigrating to the USA? 🇺🇸

[Rainbow1234]

I have posted in living overseas but don’t get much of a response so thought I would look for some opinions here.

So my dh is originally from Texas but moved to London 15 years ago when he was 16. We have 2 dc aged 4 and 7 (both have dual nationality). He assured me when we got married that he wasn’t bothered about ever moving back to the US and that he preferred England. Now he has been offered a really good job in California where his family live and wants me to think about us all moving out there but I’m so unsure, the job pays almost double what he is earning here but the area we would need to live in is more expensive than where we are now so financially we would be about the same. I was born and brought up in London, my mum dad and sister all live within 30 minutes of me and they are the only family I have in the whole world and I would feel so guilty about leaving them especially my mum, she’s 70 this year and in very good health (works full time) but I know she won’t be around forever but I can’t help thinking life could be better for my kids out there, anyone?

while 20-30% have 1-2 guns (one often only used for hunting). It's an almost tiny hardcore who 'love' lots of guns.

Probably about 50% of people we know own guns, but you never see them. Our guns only really come out during Hunting season or if we are going out into the wilderness.

However last week I was discussing handguns with my mechanic and he suddenly pulled his out of his pocket to show me

But you are still more at risk of dying from a shooting than in most developed countries.

Maybe, but it’s not something you normally consider or worry about

your chance of dying in one is still pretty low

"Pretty" low is not low enough for me!

FWIW around 6% of UK households own guns (mainly shotguns - but many many rural folk own guns)

Sunnysideup you are not ordinarily resident in uk ,and aren’t entitled to free nhs treatment. Emergency treatment,yes. Pop back to UK for treatment when unwell.no

• The NHS does not normally provide free hospital treatment for people who do not reside in the UK even if they are UK nationals
• If you have lived outside the UK for more than 3 months
(6 months for some pensioners) in the last year you can be charged
• You will be exempt from charges if you can produce evidence that you have been working abroad for less than 5 years and have lived in the UK continuously for at least 10 years at some point
• If you have come to the UK from a non-EEA

LipstickHandbagCoffee

It’s easy enough to provide the evidence if you are ever indeed asked for it. If you need to go back for treatment.

Honestly, OP, there is a strong anti-American sentiment on this site (and I'd suggest from many Brits in general), so I don't think you're going to get a particularly objective perspective from many people.

I say that neither as an American nor as a Brit.

My point is,there isn’t an automatic entitlement to free nhs treatment even if one is a uk citizen.

There were 11,000 gun-related homicides in the US in 2016. The population was 323 million. The chances of being shot and dying were about 1 in 29,000.

I'll just leave this here....

Whilst I would love to live in America (Florida), I wouldn't for the following reasons:

1. DONALD TRUMP
2. Donald Trump
3. Donald Trump
4. Their non-existent gun laws
5. Their non-existence health care
6. Lack of support for other things in general, such as maternity leave (if that's something you need to consider)
7. Having to tip 18-20% for everything 😂

I love America but we're much 'luckier' in the UK.

If you're looking for informed opinions on the US Mumsnet isn't the places. The only thing more hated is Steiner schools.

However last week I was discussing handguns with my mechanic and he suddenly pulled his out of his pocket to show me

kursk Yeah brilliant. Your really selling the country

Florida? No wonder you think those things if you've mostly been to Florida. It's one hell of a red state.

If you're planning on having any more children then definitely don't go. The USA is one of only 3 countries in the world with no maternity leave (the others being Papua New Guinea and Lesotho).

Not quite true DeltaG. If the OP lives in California then she has various maternity leave rights, both paid and unpaid.

I generally assume people who want to live in Florida are basing it on their holiday to the theme parks.

I find people wanting to emigrate to Australia similar.
"It's got great weather and I can have a house with a pool"

There were 11,000 gun-related homicides in the US in 2016. The population was 323 million. The chances of being shot and dying were about 1 in 29,000

And how many accidents? How many injuries? How many suicides? In 2016, there were more than 38,000 gun-related deaths in the U.S. — 4,000 more than 2015, not 11.000.
In 2015 there were 372 mass shootings, more than one for every day of the year, and 64 school shootings. SCHOOL SHOOTINGS. How many other western countries even need to keep a tally of those?

I like an awful lot about America, but lets not pretend that a concern about guns is in any way unfounded.

No because:
High cost of living
Poor work/life balance
Lack of annual leave
Lack of maternity leave
No social security
Cost of healthcare especially if sick
Employment at will
Gun crime
Lack of social mobility
Cost of good college education
Social inequality

And crime rate generally. I would have moved before I had children but when the opportunity arose after I had children: no way. They have a much better future here.

I see we're at the point in the thread where the OP no longer receives any new useful info.

Good luck OP - if you do decide to look further into it then there's quite a few of us on the Living Overseas forum who can answer your questions as well as possible.

I moved to Minnesota 14 years ago and have no plans to move back, the lifestyle we have is such much better than the one we left behind in London (as two childless, well-paid professionals). We now have three children and we are giving them a life that my parents couldn’t have dreamt of. As for guns - I’ve never seen one. And I would agree with a previous poster who said that it’s typically the people who’ve never lived here who advise you to stay home.

I see we're at the point in the thread where the OP no longer receives any new useful info
Wow. That's kind of arrogant

Why worst case scenario would she be stuck in America the kids have dual nationality or am I missing something, I know most people go on about trump and the guns but to be fair Obama was president for 8 years and didn’t change any gun laws either